248 A Short History of Nursing country may be judged by the social and economic status of the nursing personnel, the standards of nursing education which prevail, the degree in which nurses are organized on an independent pro- fessional basis, the variety and range of nursing and public health activities which have been de- veloped by nurses, and the extent to which all classes of the population receive the benefits of skilled and scientific nursing care. The greatest development in all these respects will be found in countries where modern scientific medicine has secured a solid foothold, where democratic and social ideals are well developed, where education is on a fairly high level, and where women are comparatively free to develop their own fields of work in their own way. In all Anglo-Saxon countries the Nightingale system has been adopted with slight modifica- tions, to suit national conditions and Brief history of countries characteristics. Since the English sys- where the ^gj^ q£ training has already been de- Nightingale system is scribed, it is not necessary to repeat paramount, j^s outstanding features here, but the England subsequent story of professional organ- ization and development in England is of distinct interest and significance to all nurses. After the inspiring example given by Miss
